Improvement in apparatus for making fluted ruffles



. UNITED STATES PATENTLQFFICE.

THOMAS ROBJOHN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN APPARATUS FOR MAKING FLUTED RUFFLES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. HQAO L dated April 19,1864.

. To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, THOMAS RoBJoHN, of thecity, county,'and State of New York, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Machinery for Making Two-Ply Fluted Ruflies; and I dohereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact(leseription of the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, forming a part of this specification, in which- Figure l is avertical section of the principal parts of a fluting machine with myimproverncnt. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of the same above the'lowerflirting-roller. Fig. Iiis a transverse section of one kind of ruffle tobe made by the machine. Fig. 4 is a back View of the same. Fig. 5 is atransverse section of anotherkind of ruffleto be made by the machine.Fig. 6 is a face view of the same. Fig. 7 is a top view of thefoldingguide used in making the ruffle shown in Figs. 3 and 4. Fig. 8 isa bottom view of the said guide and of the socket' in which it is held.Fig. 9 is an outer end view of the same. Fig. 10 is a transverse sectionof the same in the line to w of Figs. 7 and 8. Fig. 11 is a transversesection of the same in the line a- :r

of Figs. 7 and 8. Fig. 12 is a bottom view of the foldingguide used inmaking the ruffle shown in Figs. 5 and 6. Fig. 13 is an outer end viewof the same. Fig. la is a transverse section of the same in the line y3/ of Fig. 12. Fig. 15 is a transverse section of the same in the line 2z of Fig. 12.

Similar letters of reference indicate corre sponding parts in theseveral figures.

This invention consists in the combination,

with a fiuting-machine, of a folding-guide so 1 applied as to fold anddouble a strip of muslin, silk, or other fabric and deliver it in itsfolded state between the rollers, that the doubling and fiuting may beperformed by a continuous process.

It also consists in the combination, with a flirting-machine andfolding-guide, of a flattening-guide interposed between the saidfolding-guide and the flutingrollers.

It further consists in a folding-guide of novel construction fordoubling a strip of muslin, silk, or other fabric by turning in bothedges toward each other on the same side of the strip.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe its construction and operation.

A a are a pair of fluting rollers arranged horizontally one above theother, and having each two circumferential grooves, b b, of a depthslightly greater than-the depth of the flutes, the circnmferen tialgrooves of one being exactly opposite to those of the other, and of awidth equal to that intended for the flattened portion of the ruffleshown at c c in Figs. 4 and 6. These grooves receive the two pressers, dd, by which the flattening is produced, the said pressers being composedof elastic strips of metal attached to the upper part of the framing ofthe machine by a rigid bar, B, and pressing on the bottoms of thegrooves in the rollers. The grooves also receive the strippers e e, bywhich the ruffles are stripped from the rollers in case of theiradhesion thereto. These rollers, pressers, and strippers do not differessentially from those described in Reissued Letters PatentNo. 1,556,but there are two sets of grooves in them, and two pressers and twostrippers are applied, as they are intended for making two ruffles atonce.

U G are the folding-guides applied, one opposite to the grooves 11 b,and the other opposite to the grooves b b, for folding the strips ofwhich the ruffles are to be made and deliv ering them to the rollersunder the pressers. These guides are held in place by being insertedinto taper-sockets D I), which are secured by screws la 7a to ahorizontal supporting'plate, E, which is secured to the framing of themachine in front of the rollers.

The guide 0 is constructed to fold the strip along the center of itswidth as illustrated by the section, Fig. 5, and its form may be readilyunderstood by a comparison of Figs. 12,13, 14, 15, the transversesection of the strip being shown in red color in Figs. 13, 14: 15, whichenables itto be seen how the folding is gradually produced by thedrawing of the strip through the guide, effected by the flutingrollers.The guide is so arranged laterally with respect to the grooves b b ofthe flutingrollers that the two single edges of the folded strip willpass through the said grooves and the strip flattened at those edges,and the rnflfle be formed with a single frill having a folded edge.

Cl-ge guide 0 is constructed to double the strip by turning in bothedges toward each other on the same side of the strip as required tomake the two-ply ruffle, which is the subject of E. O. Woosters LettersPatent No. 40,877. The entrance at one end of this guide is made in theform of a flat, or nearly-fiat, tube of awidth equal to the width of thestrip to befolded, and to double the width of they ruffie. Commencing ata short distance from this end the upper side of this tube is open for aportion of its length, having only a narrow 'rim,ff, on each side, asshown in Figs. 7 and 10, and the sides of the guide are gradually turnedunder, as shown ath h in Figs. 10 and 11, till it assumes at or near theother end the form shown in Fig. ll. The strip in being drawn by theflutingrollers through this guide has its two edges turned in towardeach other on the under side, as illustrated by the representation ofthe transverse section of the strip in red color in Figs. 10 and 11,Fig. 11 showing the strip in the form in which it emerges from theguide, andFig. 10 showing the turning in and doubling about halfcompleted. This guide is so arranged laterally in relation to thegrooves 01 d of the tint ing-rollers as to deliver the doubled stripwith the line in which its edges meet opposite to the centers of thesaid grooves, that the doubled strip may be flattened at the meeting ofthe edges and made with two fluted frills, one on each side of theflattended portion 0, as shown at g g in Fig. 4. The two sides of thisguide 0 may be turned in equally to bring the meeting of the edges ofthe doubled strip in the center thereof, or at any distance from the twofolded edges, according as the two frills of the ruffle are'desired tobe of the same or of different widths.

The sockets D D, into which the foldingguides are inserted, and by whichthe said guides are held in place, have their outer ends made of a formto correspond with the portions of the guides whence the folded stripsissue, and the said sockets have their inner ends, which are very nearlyclose to therollers, of the same form and construction as the guideswhich form the subject-matter of the fourth clause of the claim ofReissued Letters Patent No. 1,556, hereinbef'ore referred to that is tosay, they are flattened and constructed with slits ii and tongues j, topress and flatten the doubled strips as they pass from thefolding-guides to the rollers. The slits i i and tongues are hererepresented as arranged on the under side of the tube instead of on theupper side,'as described in the Letters Patent hereinabove referred to.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-- l. The combination, withafluting-machine, of a folding-guideconstructed and arranged to deliver a strip of muslin or other fabric tothe fluting-rollers, and to fold and double the said strip as it isdrawn through it by the said rollers, substantially as-and for thepurpose herein specified. V 2. The combinatiou,with thefluting-machincand the folding-guide, of an interposed pressing-guide, substantially asherein specified.

3. Forming the said interposed pressingguide as part of a socket whichreceives and holds in place the foldingguide, substantially as hereinspecified. 4. The combination, with afluting-machine, of thefolding-guide U, constructed to turn in the two edges of a strip ofmuslin or other material toward each other on the same side of thestrip, substantially as herein specified.

THOS. ROBJOHN.

Witnesses:

JAs. P. HALL, GEO. W. REED.

